1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the art used in a device or system having an image-pickup function and communicative function, and in particular to the art using the communicative function for radio transmission of an image information item obtained by the image pick-up function.
2. Related Background Art
So far, when radio-transmitting the picture image obtained by the image-pickup function of a digital camera or the like to a device such as remote place server through communication device such as portable phone or PHS (Personal Handyphone System), the following method is generally used.
As shown in FIG. 12, for example, connection between a digital camera 501 and a note model personal computer (hereinafter, referred to as “Note PC”) 502 has been made using a cable 504 (or a PC card) and connection between a Note PC 502 and a potable phone 503 is also made by using a cable 504. Then, the pickup image obtained by using the digital camera 501 is transferred to the portable phone 503 after once transferred to the Note PC 502. Thus, as shown in FIG. 13, the pickup image transferred to the portable phone 503 is radio-transmitted via a general public network 506 to a server 507 located at a remote place.
However, such a method was advantageous in that a former device could be utilized as it was, but with disadvantageous problems that the construction became so complicated as to damage the portability or manipulativity.
Then, to solve these problems, a composite device (or multifunctional device) 510 having the image-pickup function of a digital camera or the like and the communicative function of a portable phone, a PHS or the like, for example, as shown in FIG. 14, has been proposed.
As shown in FIG. 14, the composite device comprises a lens 511 for focusing a subject ray to a image pickup such as CCD, a shutter button (shutter switch) 512, a switch group 513 made of a plurality of manipulating switches, a color LC (Liquid Crystal) 514 for displaying the pickup image obtained by the above image pickup element and a communicative antenna 515.
With such a composite device 510, a process from the photographing of a subject to the radio transmission of the pickup image thereby obtained to a server is executed, for example, according to the flow charts of FIGS. 15 and 16.
First of all (See FIG. 15), a user set up a composite device 510 to the photographing mode by manipulating a given manipulating switch in the switch group 513, instructs the start of a photographing operation and depresses a shutter switch 512 at a desired timing (step S521).
Thereby, an interruption occurs in the composite device 510 (step S522) and the pickup image signal of a subject obtained with a pickup element is once taken into an image buffer memory (step S523).
After various corrections on brightness, white balance or the like, the pickup image signal incorporated into the image buffer memory is submitted to a format conversion into the JPEG form or the like (step S524).
The pickup data made up through such steps is finally stored into a store memory (step S525).
Next (See FIG. 16), if the image pickup data obtained thus in the composite device 510 are transmitted to a remote place server, a user sets the composite device 510 to the transmit mode by manipulating a given manipulating switch in the switch group 513 (step S531).
Incidentally, instead of the switch group 513, a mode-switching manipulation here may be made on the menu screen of a color LC 514. Besides, the step S531 may be executed after the step S534 mentioned later.
Thereby, in the composite device 510, read of the pickup image data stored in the store memory is started (step S532). And, the readout pickup image data are screen-displayed by means of the color LC 514 (step S533).
By manipulating a given manipulating switch in the switch group 513, a user selects an image to be transmitted from the pickup image data screen-displayed on the color LC 514 (step S534). Selecting an image at this time relates to a single image, two images or more, or all images stored in the store memory.
Besides, by manipulating a given manipulating switch in the switch group 513, a user selects the partner server to whom to transmit the image selected at the step S534 (step S535). In selecting a server at this time, a method of selecting it from the phone book data preliminarily stored inside the composite device 510, directly inputting the partner phone number from the switch group 513 or the like.
In the composite device 510, a processing for confirming the image to be transmitted and the transmission destination to a user is performed when the user manipulation at the steps S534 and S535 is recognized at the composite device 510 (step S536). As a result, if an instruction of “OK” is made from a user by means of the switch group 513 or the like, the image transmission processing from the next step is actually executed.
Incidentally, if the instruction made from a user is “NG”, the procedure is returned to the step S534 and the processing from the determination of an image to be transmitted is executed.
Namely, first, according to a procedure depending on the type of a composite device 510 (if the communicative function pertaining to the device is PHS, for example, a transmission control procedure like “PIAFS: PHS Internet Access Forum Standard”), a call generation to the public network is made (step S537). Thereby, to the composite device 510, the OK or NG of call reception is sent back from the call destination server.
And, if the server is capable of being called as a result of confirming the OK or NG of call reception from the server (step S538), an inter-device connection between the composite device 510 and the server is established after a mutual negotiation processing (step S539).
When the negotiation between the composite device 510 and the server is completed and the communication according to a protocol such as TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) becomes possible, processing for transmitting the image selected at the step S534 to the server is executed in the composite device 510 (step S540). The error processing during a communication, retransmit processing or the like at this time is performed according to the procedure depending on the type of a composite device 510 at the step S537 and finally all images are finished at transmission, or the communication with the server ends at the time point (step S541) of receiving the message of receive end from the server (step S542).
On the other hand, if the server is incapable of being called as a result of confirming the OK or RG of call reception therefrom (step S538), that is, if call reception is disapproved for the reason of being busy or the like therefrom (step S543), a screen display of the message displaying this effect is performed in the composite device 510 (step S544).
In this case, a user must attempt a reconnection after the lapse of some time.
Meanwhile, at the background of a composite device 510 proposed as shown in FIG. 14, it can be referred to that promotion of an instance response based on the transmittance of an image on the spot is requested in addition to the portability and manipulativity.
For this object, it is desired that the procedure for transmitting an image after the photographing is as simple and easy as possible.
With a former composite device 510, however, a user needed at least three times switching manipulations of the step S531 (mode changing manipulation), the step S534 (selecting manipulation of a transmit image) and the step S535 (selecting manipulation of a transmission destination) to transmit the pickup image obtained in the photographing mode to the server as shown in FIG. 16.
This provides no problem when no instantaneous response is so much required such as the case of transmitting the accumulated photograph images collectively afterward, but becomes very troublesome, for example, in a case where it is desired to transmit only one image of the subject before eyes to a server or like cases.
Besides, also in a case where it is desired to transmit successive photographed images to a server during the continuous photographing but not a single image only, the photographing must be interrupted once for the transmission and there occurs a possibility of missing a shutter chance during this interruption.